Guide for wire drawing

ABSTRACT

A wire drawing guide which prevents the production of out of round and inconstant gage wire is formed from a tubular member having an inside diameter only slightly larger than the diameter of the wire to be drawn and nonfunctioning reducing dies positioned at each end of said tubular member and substantially the same diameter as the wire to be drawn. The guide is positioned in line with the drawing die to direct the wire to be drawn straight into the drawing die and must be at least 15 to 16 inches in length to provide adequate straightening of the wire prior to its entrance into the die.

United States Patent Copenhaver 1 Dec. 26, 1972 [54] GUIDE FOR WIRE DRAWING [72] Inventor: John D. Copenhaver, Baltimore,

[21] Appl. No.: 80,847

521 US. Cl ..72/291, 72/428 511 rm. C1. ..B21c 1130, 821d 43/16 58 Field of Search ..72/274, 282, 291,428, 289

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,088,040 7/1937 Simons et al. ..72/282 1,031,572 7/1912 Nacken ..72/289 2,109,312 2/1938 Dimmick "72/282 2,029,039 l/1936 Simons ..72/428 2,880,854 4/1959 Friedman ..72/291 2,881,908 4/1959 Ware ..72/282 2,228,749 1/1941 Berkebil ..72/291 3,263,470 8/1966 Schneider ..72/291 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,002,273 211957 Germany an/42s Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham Assistant Examiner-Michael]. Keenan Attorney-Joseph J. OKeefe [5 7] ABSTRACT A wire drawing guide which prevents the production of out of round and inconstant gage wire is formed from a tubular member having an inside diameter only slightly larger than the diameter of the wire to be drawn and nonfunctioning reducing dies positioned at each end of said tubular member and substantially the same diameter as the wire to be drawn. The guide is positioned in line with the drawing die to direct the wire to be drawn straight into the drawing die and must be at least 15 to 16 inches in lengthto provide adequate straightening of the wire prior to its entrance into the die.

9 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDnrnzs m2 INVENTOR c/a/m 0. Copenfiauer BY W 0%RNEY GUIDE FOR WIRE DRAWING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to wire drawing and more particularly to guides to direct the wire into a drawing die.

Difficulties have heretofore been encountered in the drawing of wire and particularly soft wire such as annealed wire without the occurrence of periodic out-ofround sections and sections having a reduced diameter along the length of wire. Reduction of diameter along a length of wire is commonly referred to as suckdown and causes off-gage wire at least in the involved sections. These difficulties pronounced where the wire has been fed to the drawing die from a coil of wire hung on a so-called ram boom or stock boom rather than from a reel of wire. Such difficulties have not been limited to the use of ram booms, however. It has been thought that the difficulties might be due to the wire approaching the die from varying and slightly different angles as it progressively flips from a coil of wire hung on a stock boom or otherwise supported in a vertical position. Various guides have, therefore, been tried and used to direct the wire into the die from a constant angle. These guides have usually been mounted upon a lubrication box located just prior to the die and have sometimes, in order to attain minimum wear, taken the form of a non-functioning or at most slightly reducing die mounted in the wall of the lubrication box or container. While these expedients have improved the general efficiency of the drawing operation and avoided broken wires and the like, they have not avoided the occurrence of out-ofround wire and suckdown.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing difficulties have now been obviated by the use of wire guides constructed according to the present invention. The inventor has discovered that the difficulties previously encountered have been due to slightly varying paths or angles of the wire and slight curvatures of the wire as it passes into the drawing die even after passing through conventional wire guides. It has also been discovered that the wire may be drawn without the occurrence of out-of-round or sucked down sections by directing it into the reducing die from an elongated wire straightener and guide at least to 16 inches, and preferably 16 inches, in length and having a straight guide orifice only slightly larger in diameter than the wire being drawn and aligned exactly with the longitudinal axis of the drawing die.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 shows a wire drawing arrangement incorporating the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-section through the section of the wire guide of the invention shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 there is shown in partial diagrammatic form a wire drawing apparatus 11 including a base 13, a drawing capstan 15, a drawing die 17 in a die mounting 19, a lubrication container 21 mounted adjacent the entrance of said die 17 and containing a soap or other have been particularlysuitable type lubricant 22 and a wire drawing guide 23 mounted on a wall 25 of said lubricant container opposite the entrance of said drawing die 17. A coil 27 of 0.260 to 0.360 inch diameter wire 28 is supported on a stock boom 29 in position to be drawn by the rotation of drawing capstan 15 from the 'coil 27 'into and through guide 23 and through drawing die 17. A conventional ring guide 30 may be positioned, if desired, between the coil 27 and drawing apparatus 11 to preliminarily guide the wire 28 to the guide 23. Any

other suitable arrangement for holding and paying off the coil or wire may be provided. The coil may, for instance, be supported within an inclinedcontainer or the like or might even be coiled upon a rotatable reel.

As shown in FIG. 2, guide 23 is comprised of two non-functioning reducing dies 31 and 33 having an internal orifice opening of about 0.400 inch if the wire being drawn is of the order of 0.360 inch. The die orifice should be from approximately the same size as the diameter of the wire to be drawn to approximately 0.04 to 0.08 inches larger than the diameter of the wire to be drawn in order to insure a snug fit within the die. Thus the nonfunctioning die can be considered to have substantially the same internal diameter as the outside diameter of the wire to be drawn.

Nonfunctioning dies 31 and 33 are connected together or in effect separated by a tubular guide element 35 which may be comprised of a pipe having an inside diameter of approximately 0.5 inches for a 0.36 inch diameter wire. The two dies 31 and 33 are mounted on the ends of a 3 inch diameter tube or pipe 37 which surrounds the tubular guide element 35 and serves as the frame and mounting for the other parts of the guides 23. The overall length of guide 23 is at least l5 to 16 inches and preferably at least 16 inches for use with 0.26 to 0.36 diameter wire and most comparable wires. The guide will preferably extend through the wall 25 of lubricant container 21 approximately 6 inches or so in order to bring the exit end of the guide 23 as close to the entrance of drawing die 17 as practical. Sufficient clearance between the guide and the die must be maintained, however, to allow the lubricant within lubrication container 21 to have sufficient access to the wire to adequately lubricate it for drawing. The longitudinal axis of the guide orifice in guide 23 and the longitudinal axis of the reducing orifice of the die 17 are arranged to be substantially coincident with each other to make sure that the wire is directed straight into the die.

In operation of the drawing apparatus the wire 28 is threaded through the elongated guide 23, into the lubrication container 21, through the lubrication 22, through the drawing die 17, and then around the drawing capstan 15. From the drawing capstan the wire may extend to other similar drawing operations, not shown, or to any other processing apparatus or wire accumulators, not shown. If there are a series of drawing operations each may preferably incorporate a guide 23 according to the present invention. However, if desired, only the initial drawing operation may incorporate the guide as it is most important in the initial operation of a series.

As the wire 28 is fed from the coil 27 it approaches the guide 23 from a continuously varying location and tends to have a fair residual of the curvature which it assumed in the coil 27. The wire also tends to whip and vibrate as it approaches the guide. As the wire passes through the non-functioning die 31, however, it is constrained from further gross lateral movement, and, as it passes through the guide 23 to the second non-functioning die 33, it is stretched between the two dies in an extended condition and directed straight into the mouth of the drawing die 17 from an unvarying angle. The constricted passage through the guide tube 35 prevents any vibration or whipping from appearing in the wire as it passes through the guide. The slightly increased internal diameter of the tube 35 with respect to the orifice diameters of the dies 31 and 33, however, prevents excessive backpull from developing in the wire. It has been found that the overall length of the guide 23 should be at least from to 16 inches and preferably l6 inches in order to completely control the lateral movement of the wire and prevent suckdown and out-of-round drawing. This minimum length is particularly necessary for but not limited to the drawing of wires between 0.26'and 0.36 inches in diameter. The

guide 23 may be more than 16 inches in length but should not be too long else a whipping action may develop in the 'wire. The exact length of the guide selected will depend upon a number of interrelated factors such as the speed and degree of whipping of the wire, the distance of the coil of wire from the die and other related factors. lt may in some cases be desirable, especially for longer guides, to incorporate an additional non-functioning die or dies or wear resistant inserts between the end dies to further confine the wire. Ordinarily, however, it is desirable to use the shortest satisfactory guide with the least possible number of wear resistant inserts necessary for satisfactory operation in order to minimize backpull and retardation of the wire as it passes through the apparatus. In some cases it may be satisfactory to use a guide having a straight constant internal diameter guide orifice just slightly larger than the diameter of the wire so long as the guide is at least 15 to 16 inches in length. For best operation, however, the guide should preferably incorporate wear resistant inserts, which as shown in the drawings may, for convenience, take the form of nonfunctioning dies 31 and 33, having a slightly smaller internal diameter than the major internal portions of the guide.

I claim: 1. An apparatus for drawing wire comprising:

a. a wire drawing die mounted in position to permit drawing of wire therethrough by means of a subsequent wire pulling device,

b. a wire guide having a straight wire confining and straightening orifice at least 15 v to 16 inches in length passing therethrough, said orifice being larger in diameter than the wire to be drawn but of such dimensions as to fit closely about said wire,

. said wire guide being positioned anteriorly to and in close proximity to said drawing die with the longitudinal axis of the reducing orifice in said die and the longitudinal axis of the wire confining orifice in saidwire guide substantially coincident with each other and in position to guide wire from a supply of wire in a straight line through said guide and into said drawin die.

2. Apparatus or drawing wire accordingto claim 1 additionally comprising spaced wear resistant inserts in said guide orifice defining circumferential constricted areas in said guide orifice slightly smaller than said guide orifice but not sufficiently constricted to reduce the diameter of the wire passing therethrough.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said wear resistant inserts are positioned adjacent the entrance 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said supply of wire from which the wire passes to said wire guide comprises a free coil of wire supported with its axis disposed at a substantial inclination from the vertical and defining an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the reducing orifice of the drawing die.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said supply of wire is hung on a stock boom.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the supply of wire is comprised of wire of from 0.26 to 0.36 inches diameter.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the length of the wire straightening orifice is at least 16 inches. 

1. An apparatus for drawing wire comprising: a. a wire drawing die mounted in position to permit drawing of wire therethrough by means of a subsequent wire pulling device, b. a wire guide having a straight wire confining and straightening orifice at least 15 to 16 inches in length passing therethrough, said orifice being larger in diameter than the wire to be drawn but of such dimensions as to fit closely about said wire, c. said wire guide being positioned anteriorly to and in close proximity to said drawing die with the longitudinal axis of the reducing orifice in said die and the longitudinal axis of the wire confining orifice in said wire guide substantially coincident with each other and in position to guide wire from a supply of wire in a straight line through said guide and into said drawing die.
 2. Apparatus for drawing wire according to claim 1 additionally comprising spaced wear resistant inserts in said guide orifice defining circumferential constricted areas in said guide orifice slightly smaller than said guide orifice but not sufficiently constricted to reduce the diameter of the wire passing therethrough.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said wear resistant inserts are positioned adjacent the entrance and exit of said wire straightening orifice.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said wear resistant inserts comprise nonfunctioning reducing dies.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said guide comprises a tubular conduit having an internal diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the wire to be drawn with a drawing die positioned at each end having a reducing orifice of substantially the same but not less than thE diameter of the wire to be drawn.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said supply of wire from which the wire passes to said wire guide comprises a free coil of wire supported with its axis disposed at a substantial inclination from the vertical and defining an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the reducing orifice of the drawing die.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said supply of wire is hung on a stock boom.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the supply of wire is comprised of wire of from 0.26 to 0.36 inches diameter.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the length of the wire straightening orifice is at least 16 inches. 